


Christmas Village

by Prisca



Category: The Faculty (1998)
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-10 01:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5563072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prisca/pseuds/Prisca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zeke surprises his boyfriend with a trip to Philadelphia</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Village

This Christmas Eve had been a great one. Not that Christmas at the Connor's house wasn't always great. But the presence of his sexy-as-hell boyfriend who had always tried to convince him that he didn't care in the slightest about holidays had made it very special for Casey this year.

He had been sure that nothing could top this, until the day after Christmas Zeke's GTO stopped in front of the house of the Connor's again.

"Wow," Casey greeted him and leaned in for a fleeting hug.  
"You're up early. Do you wanna have breakfast with us?"

"Nope."  
Zeke grinned wide.  
"We can stop at a drive-in later. Now get your stuff together. It's quite a way to go."

"Huh?"  
Casey looked at him slightly confused, then he heard his father chuckling.

"Zeke is a good boy," he said.  
"He has asked us for permission at first. So, go and have fun. Zeke, I hope you will bring him back in one piece on Tuesday."

"Sure thing," promised Zeke.

Only half an hour later Casey was sitting in the GTO, his heart still pounding wild. Hard to believe that this was not a dream. Philadelphia. For a whole weekend. That his boyfriend refused to tell him more about the plans for the next days didn't matter. Four days together with Zeke, this was all he needed to know.

+++

The trip ended at a small motel; they brought their stuff into a cozy room with a large double-sized bed.

"I hope you do not mind," said Zeke.  
"It was the only room available. A lot of tourists stay here at the moment."

Only for a moment felt Casey unsure. They had been friends for almost a year until Zeke had finally talked about his true feelings. First, Casey was almost shocked, to find out that Zeke felt like he did, was so unbelievable.

"How can you be sure," he had asked.  
"You can have any girl at school."

"Not interested," Zeke had assured him smiling.  
"Never was, I just was stupid enough to think that it is better to put on a show. That was before you. I fall in love the moment I noticed your eyes for the first time. But I knew you would need some time to get to know me better. It's never good to rush things."

Casey fought down his uneasiness, it was stupid to panic because of a double-sized bed.

'I will wait, until you tell me, that you want me,' Zeke had promised him once and he had always kept the promise and never tried to push him further than he was willing to go.

Zeke's chuckle tore him out of his thoughts.  
"Come on," he said.  
"Get your bobble hat and the scarf, it's already snowing again. Let's have some fun. Trust me, you'll love it."

And he pulled him out of the door again, back to the GTO.

+++

The short drive ended on a large, almost overfilled parking lot, but Zeke finally managed it to find an empty spot. He grabbed for Casey's hand and they followed a group of people over snow covered ways to a brightly decorated gateway, with a large sign at the top: Christmas Village - Weihnachten ist das Fest der Liebe. Questioning Casey looked at the words.

"What does that mean," he asked.

"It's German. Christmas is the Feast of Love."  
Zeke smiled.  
"The Christmas Village here in Philly has a different theme every year. This year it's Germany. Wanna go inside?"

What kind of question was this? Of course, Casey wanted to find out what did hide behind the fence, he loved everything that had to do with Christmas. This year he had spent hours at the small Christmas market in Herrington together with Zeke. But the Christmas Village was like stepping into a different world.

Glitter and lights everywhere. A yummy aroma of punch, gingerbread and other goodies was lying in the air. Small booths with wooden toys, Christmas ornaments and jewelry. A gingerbread house, inside a large collection of old toys - teddys, nutcracker, rocking horses, doll houses and a large model layout railway, embedded in a winter mountain landscape.

Santa's home, where you could meet Santa Claus, take pics with him, tell him your secret wishes. Though this actually was a bit too late, because Christmas Eve was already over, but no one seemed to care about this fact. The friendly looking man was surrounded by a lot of people, mostly children and their parents.

Outside, in the center of the village, of course, an enormous Christmas Tree. A bit apart of it an ice-skating rink, which was illuminated by many lights and a toboggan run. Some carousels for children and adults too. Several small stages for shows or music. Casey couldn't get enough from a bavarian folk dance named 'Schuhplattler'.

"When we get home again you will have to try this too," he said and giggled hilariously when Zeke only rolled his eyes.

Together they wandered on, followed the crowd, stopped once in a while to look at one of the colourful booths, to laugh about a show or to marvel about some beautiful craftwork. Casey's eyes, so big and blue and sparkling with excitement. Zeke followed him smiling, he felt through and through happy. As if he hadn't known it, that Casey would fall in love with this place instantly. Just like he did, ages ago, when he was still a little boy. The last Christmas together with his dad. It was long ago, he could barely remember him, but he had never stopped thinking about this day. Without his dad, his life had changed a lot and he had never had a perfect Christmas like that again ... until finally Casey had reminded him that Christmas was something wonderful when you could share it with the people you loved.

When they got hungry they stopped at one of the booths which offered bavarian specialities. A Kaiserschmarrn with raisins and apple sauce for Casey, a large pretzel with Obatzda, a kind of savoury cheese cream, for Zeke. Hot spiced wine for both of them. After having half of his mug, Casey held it out for Zeke.

"Want you? It's good," he said, giggling slightly.  
"But the day isn't over yet. I don't want to get drunk."

Zeke smiled.  
"So, you like my surprise?"

"It's great," Casey assured him.  
"My best Christmas present ever."

He tiptoed and put his arms around Zeke's neck. Maybe he already was a bit tipsy, usually he wasn't brave enough to show his feelings so openly. Zeke didn't give much about it what other people thought about him. He pulled Casey even closer and couldn't help it: his lips met Casey's, he could taste the sweetness of the Kaiserschmarrn and the flavour of the wine, he could feel Casey's warm body and everything was just perfect.

"Awww, they are so cute," a young woman's voice reached his ear.  
"They should participate in the 'Christmas is Love Contest'."

"Better not," answered a boy and laughed slightly.  
"We don't need this keen competition."

Then the couple was gone. Casey stepped back and looked at Zeke slightly blushed.  
"Did you hear that? We are cute," he chuckled.

"Sure we are. And now you are thinking about taking part in the contest?"

"Good God, no."  
Casey shook his head.  
"What, if we win and end up on the front page of the newspaper? Someone from Herrington might discover it ... Mrs. Miller ... Miss Drake. Or Gabe!"

Scandal. For sure. A lot of people in Herrington were very closed-minded. Who, if not Zeke, did know that? And, of course, never he would bring Casey ... or his parents ... into this difficult situation. Even if it was hard sometimes to hold back. But one day it would be over, they would leave Herrington behind and finally be free. Until then he would take what he could get. Days like these.

"So, what are we gonna do next? The ice rink? Did you ever skate on ice? It's fun, I could teach you."

"Maybe later. I would like to go to the historical carousel again. That's so amazing. This okay for you?"

"Sure."  
Zeke nodded.  
"As long as you don't expect from me to ride a wooden pony."  
He laughed when he noticed Casey's almost disappointed face. The boy was so easy to see through.

+++

The carousel was large, with two stages and old wooden stairs to reach the upper one. Even Zeke couldn't deny that it looked beautiful, designed with loving attention for the details. The main focus, of course, was on the horses and the carriages, black and white on the lower stage, brown on the upper one. The horses with a wild mane and colourful painted saddles, the carriages with dark red leather seats, bells and lanterns with faced candles. Not much Christmas decoration, which was a smart decision, the snow on the roof, the smells in the air, the laughing of the children ... this was enough to turn the carousel into a magic place.

"Can you imagine that this carousel is over two hundred years old? First it was pulled by real horses," Casey told Zeke, after studying a large, golden board in front of it.  
"There was only one stage and a coachman guided them. Later they build in a steam-engine so that they could add the upper stage. Now it's electrically driven, of course, but wouldn't it be great to see it in the original state?"

A bell stopped his gushing, together with the other people he stepped away. Music started to play, children laughed and waved at their parents when the horses rocked slightly up and down and the carousel started to move.

"I wish I had brought my camera," sighed Casey.  
"I should take a lot of pics of all that, my mom would love them. It's even better than Disneyland. Why did you tell me to leave it in the motel?"

Zeke smiled.  
"Because I didn't want you to hide your beautiful eyes behind a camera lens all the time. Enjoy it, Case, and we can come back tomorrow for the pics."

Casey turned to his boyfriend, the sparkling of his eyes seemed to be even more intense than before.  
"Really? That's okay for you?"

"I know you!"  
Zeke smirked.  
"I know you would never forgive me when you are not able to take tons of pics."

"Oh, you are ..."  
Casey paused, frowning.  
"What's going on there?"

Zeke followed his eyes and he noticed a little girl with a dark red coat and a white bobble hat, who was standing alone next to the carousel. Her eyes were wide open, her lips pressed together, she looked rather scared than hyper-happy, like all the other kids around. Casey didn't hesitate any longer and went over to her.

"Hey," he said in a calm voice.  
"What are you doing here? Where's your mom?"

The girl sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, Casey could see that she was about to cry. He grabbed for her hand, but she shied away.

"Your daddy? He will be looking for you, I'm sure."

The answer was only a barely visible shrug. Casey glanced around, no, obviously there was no one who belonged to her. Feeling helpless, he turned to Zeke.  
"What are we going to do now? We can't leave her alone again."

"Hm!"  
Zeke crouched down in front of her, when he took her on the arms he could feel her little body stiffen and she sobbed.  
"Hey, it's okay," he tried to soothe her.  
"Don't worry. My name is Zeke. Do you have a name too?"

"Anna!"  
More a whisper, but at least an answer.

"That's a beautiful name. And do you have another one? Like Tyler, that's my name, Zeke Tyler."

"Anna!"

"Oh, that's fine, Anna."  
Zeke laughed slightly, then he turned to Casey.  
"Let us go around the carousel once, I'm sure her parents are nearby and already looking for her."

With Anna in his arms they did two rounds, but all in vain. Finally, Casey sighed softly.  
"This doesn't work, Zeke, obviously no one is around who belongs to her. Do you think ..."  
He paused and glanced at Anna who finally had calmed down a bit, one arm around Zeke's neck, her head rested on his shoulder.  
"Do you think someone has abandoned her? Or ... kidnapping?"

"Case, your fantasy is running wild."  
Zeke couldn't suppress his laughter.  
"It's much more likely that her parents were a bit distracted and she used this moment to run away. Let's go to the first aid ward. For sure she's not the only child which get lost here, they will know what to do.

C'mon Anna, we will bring you to a nice guy who will help us to find your mommy, okay?"

"Mommy?"

Zeke nodded.  
"Yeah. I know you would like to be with her now."

"Anna hungry," she murmured.

Zeke chuckled.  
"Oh. Well, I guess this is something we can cure easily. There is a booth selling waffles, do you like waffles, Anna?"

When he tried to put her onto the ground again she clung to him, so finally Casey went over to the little booth to buy a waffle with icing sugar and a hot cocoa. For the first time Anna smiled at him when he broke off a piece of the waffle and handed her the pastry.

"She's cute," he said.

"She's a sunshine," agreed Zeke, while Anna wiped her sticky mouth on his jacket and then took a sip of the cocoa Casey held out to her.  
"Her parents must die of fear, I hope we can find them soon."

In the next moment all happened at once. There was a loud outcry, Anna turned her head so fast, that Casey spilled most of the cacao and Zeke cursed slightly when he almost dropped Anna. A young woman rushed up to them, followed by a young man. Anne struggled in Zeke's arms.

"Mommy!"

"Anna!"  
When Zeke finally managed it to put her onto the ground with dropping her she almost jumped into the arms of the woman, who was laughing and crying at the same time.  
"Anna, oh my god. What are you doing? How could you scare us that much?"

"Pony," sniffed Anna, her arms clinging around her neck.  
"Pony!"

"Oh, baby."

The man was standing close beside them, one arm around the shoulders of his wife, the other one on Anna's knees. He turned the head to look at Zeke and Casey.

"She was all alone at the carousel," said Zeke, and he wasn't sure whether he was angry or relieved.

Thy guy forced a smile onto his face.  
"She is crazy about the horses," he said with a slightly trembling voice.  
"It was getting late and we planned to go home. But there is this booth which sells glass-ornaments, Jenny ... "  
He glanced at the young woman who still didn't seem to take anything around her aside from her little daughter.  
"Jenny wanted to buy some. Anna was asleep. It was only a moment ... when we turned back to the buggy she was gone. Good god, I can't imagine how she managed it to come back here. She's still so small."

Finally, Jenny looked up, her face still covered with tears, she smiled.  
"We can't thank you enough for saving her," she said.

"Oh, no," Zeke replied.  
"She actually wasn't in danger. Just scared, when she realized that she was all alone. It was nothing big."

"Yes, it was," protested Anna's father.  
"So many people are around here. And no one took notice of her ... beside of you two. I know, it's not much, but ..."

When he pulled out his wallet, Casey shook his head.  
"No, we don't want this. All we need to know is that she's back to her parents, where she belongs to."

He smiled at the little girl who had relaxed visibly now, the tears had run dry, her eyes were resting on the old carousel, sparkling wild.  
"Mommy, Pony," she asked and pulled her face poutingly when her mother shook her head.

"No, honey, we will go home now. That was enough adventure for today."

"Pony, pleeease!"

And her mom sighed slightly, much too relieved to protest for longer.  
"Fine," she gave in.  
"One last round. Which pony do you want this time?"

Anna hesitated for a moment, then she turned to the boys and smiled shyly.  
"Zeke."

Casey grinned, Zeke chuckled. How could he resist these begging eyes?  
"Sure thing, baby. We will take the black one, okay? It looks so wild."

Finally, it was not one round but three, Anna was sitting in front of Zeke who hold her safe in his arms. She didn't seem to stop chatting and laughing and every time the crossed her parents and Casey, she waved with both arms.

Casey observed them, inwardly giggling to himself. Zeke Tyler was riding a wooden horse. It had just needed a little girl to throw all his resistance overboard.

+++

Casey watched them heading off to the parking lot and smiled.  
"Anna's mom says, you are great with her. Usually she acts a bit shy against strangers."

"I like children. One day I would like to have own ones."

Casey blinked, feeling confused for a moment. Zeke was always good for a surprise. But he had never thought that children might be a part of his future plans. Of their future plans. Not that he would mind, but ...  
"What are you thinking about? Adoption? Or maybe a surrogate mother," he tried to make a joke to play down his uneasiness.

Zeke put his arm around his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.  
"Don't worry, we don't need to discuss this right now. First Graduation. College. I want to travel with you, Rom, London. Paris, this town is made for artists and lovers.

But I guess one day maybe we want to settle down. Having a family would be nice, don't you think so? Children, maybe a dog ... since I can remember I always wanted a dog."

Casey swallowed, his knees suddenly feeling weak. How often had Zeke told him, that he loved him, there had been plans to make a trip to Europe over summer and to go to Boston after graduation. But this was different, Zeke was talking about it to spend a whole life with him.

"Case? You okay?"

He looked up, right into these wonderful hazelnut brown eyes and he felt love and desire like never before rushing through his body.

"Can we go back to the motel," he whispered.  
"Or I will ask you to take me right here."  


**Author's Note:**

> written für the Christmas Box 2015
> 
> also posted at my LJ


End file.
